Just one year ago, I didn’t know anything about the fraught issue of tribal sovereignty, and if I had, I wouldn’t have felt a personal stake in the matter. But that all changed last summer, after I spent several days on Indian Island with other educators learning about Wabanaki culture, history and native survivance. Nothing in my 20 years of teaching has affected me so profoundly as those days on the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation. The experience was both gutting and galvanizing.

Once we know better, we have to do better. I know now that all Mainers stand to benefit from improving relations with our Wabanaki neighbors. This is unequivocally the right thing to do, for so many reasons. For example, research projects that restoring the full rights of sovereignty would be an economic boon not only to the tribes but to surrounding rural areas as well. This would mitigate the crushing effects of child poverty in Wabanaki communities, which only perpetuates generational trauma and the state-sponsored abuse of indigenous children throughout our history. 

Amidst the patriotic fanfare this year, I believe the best way we in Maine could mark the 250th anniversary of these United States is by making good on broken promises to those who have truly cherished this land and fought for this country from the beginning. So I ask lawmakers to vote “Yes” on LD 785 and LD 395 and my fellow community members to voice their support.

Emily Vail
Brunswick